


Fire to Ashes

by HostileGlitch



Series: Mighty Nein Bending AU [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Caleb Widogast-centric, Caleb is a firebender, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Iron Shepherds Arc (Critical Role), Warning for fire and descriptions of burns, beau is an airbender, en media res, general caleb backstory stuff, this is my favorite trope yall, why write the whole fic when you can write the one interesting scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24262210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HostileGlitch/pseuds/HostileGlitch
Summary: Caleb Widowgast had pretended for months to be a novice self-taught firebender who barely could summon a flame. But when the Iron Shepherds stole half of his friends, leaving the rest of them to try and attack their home base to get them back, he is forced to show his true colors.Alternate Title: What's sexier then Wizards? FIREBENDERS
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast
Series: Mighty Nein Bending AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830964
Comments: 15
Kudos: 250





	Fire to Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> I have been watching a lot of Avatar the Last Airbender and this is the result. This is my absolute favorite trope and I'm very glad I finally get to write something that fulfills it.

Beau hated to retreat. Hated with every fiber of her being that she was watching Keg earthbend a wall of stone in front of the Iron Shepherd's gate as everyone huddled on the outside, hurt and overwhelmed.

She was still on the wall, pressed into a shadowy spot. They weren’t leaving anyone behind, other than the friends who were already captured. No, Caduceus and Nila were both kneeling over Molly just beyond the gate. Keg was breathing hard, still shifting the earth to hopefully reduce the likelihood that they would be followed. And there was Nott, appearing out of the treeline, looking panicked. 

Where was Caleb? Beau looked around again, hoping to see him safe, having stayed out of the fray like their shitty plan had said. But she didn’t see him. 

Until, she did. Inside the gate, still in the courtyard. He was just stepping around the side of the house, pressed against the wall. He seemed to look at the blocked up gate then up at the wall, if thinking of an escape. She let out a string of curses under her breath that would make the monks very upset and gripped her glider, preparing to jump in and go for him herself. The courtyard was mostly empty. Only Lorenzo and another goon still stood, plus the three or more that were still inside, if Keg’s intel was correct. 

She couldn’t go from here though. She needed to get closer, otherwise they’d be blasted out of the sky. Ducking her head, Beau ran along the top of the wall, moving towards Caleb’s position. 

Lorenzo spoke. “It seems like you’ve been forgotten.” His voice was clear in the quiet. Beau dropped even lower, peering into the courtyard. 

Caleb’s head snapped up, seeing Lorenzo standing in the middle of the courtyard. He froze for a moment, before he stepped out from the wall, hands out in a clear challenge. 

Beau was only halfway there but she skid to a stop, pressing herself against one of the stone parapets.  _ Caleb what are you doing?  _ She wanted to yell.  _ What’s your play? _

Lorenzo laughed, loudly and clearly in a way that made Beau’s grip turn white knuckled. She took a breath just as Lorenzo sent a powerful stream of fire towards Caleb. It was a constant stream for nearly five seconds, not like she was counting. 

Eventually, Lorenzo stopped and she saw Caleb, unharmed, deflecting the last of the flames before taking another step forward, hands still raised. 

“Ah, the firebender. You must be responsible for the state of my house.” Lorenzo continued. 

_ The state of his house? _ Beau wondered. But Caleb was supposed to stay out of the fight. Beau looked at the house, which looked relatively untouched other than the damage done from the fighting, mostly caused by Keg earthbending and Beau throwing a guy through a window. 

“No matter. I usually believe in an eye for an eye but since you’re the only one here, you’ll just have to pay for all of them.” Lorenzo paused a moment, a smirk on his face that Beau wanted so badly to punch off. Then he moved. 

He punched out, sending another blast of fire at Caleb. Followed by two more. Caleb blocked the first, then the next two without moving. Lorenzo stayed on the offence. Sending blast after blast of fire at Caleb. Beau sat on the wall, gripping her staff. 

She watched as Caleb didn’t flinch for each burst he deflected. At first, Beau assumed he would need to be rescued, but the longer it went on, she wasn’t sure he was struggling at all. 

Eventually, Lorenzo stopped the onslaught and paused. Beau could see his shoulders moving with exertion. Caleb was still. 

Beau also saw the last remaining goon. He was moving to flank Caleb, creeping around an upturned cart. Finally, something she could handle. Beau leapt down upon him, cracking her staff into his collarbone. He staggered and tried to blast her with water. She leapt out of the way, before launching herself off of the cart and punching him three- four- five times in the face before he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

She quickly turned to find Caleb again. He was deflecting another series of fire blasts, these more concentrated and faster than before. He still wasn’t moving and now that she was closer, Beau could see that Caleb’s face was stoic and focussed. 

“This is no fun if you don’t fight back.” Lorenzo provoked before sending a few more concentrated bursts in Caleb’s direction. These didn’t even need to be blocked as Caleb stepped easily aside. 

Caleb circled for two more steps before he suddenly took one step back and brought his arm back, taking a step forward and throwing a large ball of fire at Lorenzo. It was larger than anything Beau had seen from him before and there was none of the shaky nervousness that usually accompanied his bending. But it still wasn’t enough for Lorenzo, who deflected it with one arm easily. 

It was only the beginning though. Caleb brought his hands down and another wave of fire descended upon Lorenzo. 

Beau could barely follow what happened next. Fire burst from both sides and filled the courtyard, forcing her to take cover behind the cart. Lorenzo was a solid force in the center of the courtyard, unmoving and unyielding as he deflected one burst of fire, only for another to slam into his chest. But Caleb was still moving, still circling. He was deflecting the fire that was sent at him and bending his own, each move sharp and practiced. It was almost a mastery level and if the two more fire bolts that slammed into Lorenzo’s stomach were any indication, Caleb was  _ winning. _

As the two bolts hit Lorenzo, the man staggered back a step, swinging his glaive back to counter the force and Caleb dropped to his knees, slamming his hands into the ground and sending a wall of flame straight into Lorenzo. Five feet thick and at least fifteen feet tall, it filled the courtyard between Caleb and Lorenzo. It hit him face on and Beau watched as Lorenzo’s clothes were set alight and his skin was singed and burning. She could smell the horrific scent from her position, and Caleb was standing, back straight and hands still up but Beau could see his shoulders rising and falling with quick breaths. After a moment suspended in the air, Lorenzo’s body collapsed to the ground, dead. 

Beau ran up to Caleb, making sure to make noise with her footsteps. She’d seen enough people in her life get startled immediately after battle and attack, often lethally. When he didn’t react, she set a hand on his shoulder. She had so many questions, how was he capable of bending like that after a month of acting like he barely knew how to bend at all? Why the hell was he in the courtyard in the first place? 

Instead, she simply pulled him in the direction of the gate. He needed out and the rest of them could go in for their friends. 

He didn’t move. At first, Beau figured he was just lost in his own head, but when she turned to look at him, his eyes were focused and widened in horror. 

She heard laughter as she turned around to see Lorenzo… moving. He was dead. He had to be dead. She had seen the flesh start to burn off his face. And yet–– he was laughing. A haunting, echoing sound that cracked and broke. 

Fire licked around his form as he stood slowly. And the face that rose up from the ground was no longer human. A skull, with fire licking out of the sockets and creeping up from under the burnt clothes. And as she watched, fire continued to consume Lorzeno’s body. 

Beau thought these were a legend. That people who tried to force mastery, people who wanted the power of bending with none of the responsibility turning into monsters was just a story they told new benders to scare them into patience and respect. But right before her eyes, Lorenzo was consumed by fire and was standing. The laugh still sounded throughout the courtyard, 

“An Oni” Caleb breathed out. 

Lorenzo let out a cry that was half yell and half tortured scream that nearly made Beau cover her ears. Fire burst out from his form, sweeping over the courtyard. Caleb blocked the fire easily ( _ and she still had so many questions _ ) and he reached up to put his hand on Beau’s.

“We need to go.” Beau pulled him in the direction of the gate. 

Caleb didn’t move. “Go inside. Get our friends.”

“Caleb this is an Oni!” Beau was going to punch him. Secret powerful firebender or not, this was not the kind of being someone could fight on their own. “We’ll come back for them.”

“Beau the house is up in flames.” He shouted back at her. When she looked, fire was already creeping up the side of the house. “Get everyone out. Now.” 

Gone was the hunched and anxious friend she’d made over the past month. He was standing at his full height and looking her dead in the eyes. 

Beau made a split second decision that she knew she would regret for the rest of her life. She leapt forward, wrapping Caleb in a bone crushing hug for half a second before leaping to the air, snapping out her glider. 

She landed on the wall above her friends a moment later. 

“Keg, Nott, Caduceus. We’re getting our friends now.”

<<+>>

Caleb had heard of the Oni in bedtime stories and in the halls of the Soltryce Academy. Elemental beings consumed by madness and the desire for power. They were nothing more than stories then. Something for students to joke about. 

This was frighteningly real. 

He felt the gust of air as Beau left, hopefully to get their friends and save everyone inside the building. The Oni was still… forming? Caleb wasn’t sure. But he took the lull to steady his breathing. 

“ _ The power in firebending comes from the breath. _ ” Ikithon’s voice and Caleb shook his head. 

He had been avoiding fire since the Sanatorium. He lit campfires with a match and he carried a torch when he needed to see. It was only once he met Nott and then the rest of the Nein that he began to bend again. But if they knew what he was capable of… what he had done…

He pinched his arm. Not the time. Not when the being that was once Lorenzo was beginning to shift his empty socketed eyes in his direction. 

Caleb struck first, a simple kata that he didn’t expect to land. But it did. And it left no mark and the Oni had no reaction.

He sent two more in quick succession. They dissipated on impact with no regard made from the Oni. 

Immune to fire. Figures. 

The Oni’s eyes flared and Caleb barely dived out of the way of a column of flame so hot he could have sworn it was  _ blue _ . He rolled back to his feet and moved towards one of the carts. It was still smoking slightly from the Oni’s initial burst and it wouldn’t last long, but it was something. He deflected two more large balls of fire and ducked behind the cart. 

He looked first for any water nearby. The grates from which the few waterbenders in the Iron Shepherds had drawn their water were twenty feet to his right. But the water was under metal, and he doubted it would be any use to him. But there was a trough that had water in it against the wall not too far in front of him. 

The cart behind him exploded. A concussive blast that sent him flying, rolling to a stop on the ground, dizzy and bruised. He pushed himself to a stand, watching the Oni float closer, slowly and without emotion. Caleb backed up, never letting his eyes off the creature until his leg hit the trough. He reached down to feel the water on his fingertips. 

He slid sideways, feeling for a bucket or a waterskin of some kind. With the grace of whatever gods were still paying attention to him, his fingers hit a metal bucket. He pulled it up and held it. 

The Oni drew closer still, hot flames by this point had incinerated every scrap of fabric and skin, leaving only the blackened skeleton remaining. Caleb braced himself and waited for the moment. 

It came when the Oni brought one skeletal and flame-coated hand up to send a burst of fire at Caleb. He ducked under it, feeling his hair and face singed from the sheer heat, and lunged forward to splash the water towards the Oni. The moment it left the bucket, the water was turned to steam and disappeared into the sky. The Oni didn’t react still, bringing the second hand up and its fire continued to grow in size. 

Caleb was forced to dive to the side, using every block he knew to save himself from the onslaught that followed. The Oni wasn’t creative, everything it sent was directly at him, but it was  _ powerful _ . The heat and size of the blasts were unlike anything Caleb had seen before. 

One errant blast caught his shoulder and the pain shot through him. 

“ _ Again.”  _ Ikithon’s voice echoed in his skull. “ _ Not good enough _ ”. 

Caleb was trained to be a Vollstrecker. An agent in the most elite bending force in the empire. 

He brought his hands up in front of his face against one blast and he felt fire burn through the wraps on his arms and singe his skin. 

Ikithon used to use crystals and fire to try and increase the power of his bending. The scars to show it were all across his body. Caleb was never sure if the experiments worked.

An echoing screech sounded through the courtyard as the Oni flared. A moment of silence before a beam of energy shot through the air and hit the wall near Caleb, exploding on contact. 

Caleb hit the ground and the world flashed. 

_ “Again” Ikithon said.  _

_ Bren looked up at Astrid, her eyes filled with concern as she stood over him, hand held in a motion. Every bone in his body hurt.  _

_ “Now.” Ikithon spoke again and Bren pushed himself to his feet. Astrid’s hands clenched into fists at her side, like every part of her wanted to reach out and help him up. But they’d learned that lesson long ago.  _

_ She instead brought her hands up and sent two bursts of fire into his chest, stepping into him and twisting so once again he hit the ground, air knocked out of his lungs.  _

_ “Again.” _

Caleb’s eyes snapped open to fire. 

The house, the Iron Sheppard’s hideout was fully in flames. Fire curled out of every window. Black smoke was filling the sky and was going to be a problem for breathing pretty soon. The building was on the verge of collapse. And as far as he knew, his friends were still inside. 

The Oni was regarding him, if the being was capable of thought still. Caleb pushed himself to a stand, his muscles screamed and his head was swimming. 

He needed just a few more minutes. 

He deflected attack after attack not nearly as well as he needed too. His wraps were burned to cinders and he was forced to ditch his scarf and coat as they both were too burned to be anything other than a hassle. 

Ikithon’s voice pounded in the back of his head. “ _ Not good enough. Again. Weak.” _

It was when the Oni had paused once again, Caleb leaning against the stone wall that a different voice spoke to him. His own. 

“ _ The power of firebending comes from the breath.” _

He had repeated that phrase that he was so familiar with through his schooling to Molly. The night after a particularly scary fight against a bunch of gnolls that Molly had, seemingly for the first time in the tiefling’s life, firebended. 

It wouldn’t be for another two weeks that they would learn why. But that night, Caleb had reluctantly sat down and explained some firebending basics to Molly, trying to be helpful without letting on how much experience he had. 

The Oni sent another concussive blast that Caleb just barely dodged. 

A loud crash made him look at the house. The roof was beginning to collapse. There was no sign of his friends. 

He blocked another firebolt a moment too late as it burned into his ribs. 

He staggered back before another blast shot at him, and he was knocked to the ground. His breath wasn’t coming back to him this time. He was out and Ikithon was still in his head.  _ “Weak.” _

_ “You’re not  _ trying, _ Bren.” _

_ “Now Bren!” _

“Caleb!”

With his eyes pinched tight and his pulse pounding in his ears, it took a moment to realize that the last one was real. He pushed himself up on one elbow and looked towards the house. Figures were rushing out of the building. The world was still so blurry and the ground felt like it was moving underneath him and the Oni stood above him, fire flickering throughout its form. It held a hand in his direction and fire built in it’s palm.

Then there was a gust of wind and a battle cry before a figure in blue appeared above him with her fists cracking into the skull. 

The Oni staggered back and Beau reached down to pull Caleb up to his feet. He barely stayed standing and Beau gripped him tightly. 

There was more shouting behind him. Loud footsteps and two hard hits as Keg smacked two rocks with her hammers straight into the Oni. Water burst out of one of the grates and into it. Most of it evaporated, but some drops hit it and sizzled loudly, causing the Oni to let out another painful screech. 

Caleb turned to see his friends and more were alright. Caduceus was supporting Yasha, who looked barely conscious. Jester and Fjord looked beaten and tired, but alive and on their feet. Nott was running ahead of them, crossbow up and ready. Shakaste holding hands with a young firbolg boy. 

They were making their way towards the gate. Caduceus pushed enough of the wall aside to let them through. 

“Caleb we’re leaving!” Beau grabbed his elbow and pulled him, and this time he wasn’t strong enough to stop her. Keg was already running. Him and Beau were the last ones out. 

The Oni paused and Caleb could tell it was preparing another concussive blast. 

It wouldn’t let up once they got outside the gate. It would burn the forest to the ground and kill everything in it.

The last few months of training, Ikithon was trying to teach them to bend lightning. Astrid had excelled at it, but Caleb had never been able to do it. 

But he stopped at the gate and took a breath. 

Every ounce of energy he had went into the spark. He pulled his hand through the air, feeling for the electrical energy that was always present. Each spark sent a shock through his system but he continued. The other hand in a mirrored motion. 

A breath for control. He could not lose control. 

He brought his hands together and released the lightning bolt at the same time the Oni released the blast. 

The two met and the lightning won. It struck the Oni in the center of the chest and it  _ screamed _ . Caleb’s legs gave out, whether from fear or exhaustion he couldn’t tell. The lightning seemed to feed off of the creature’s energy, continuing to spark and arc off to nearby surfaces until there was nothing left and a blackened skull fell to the ground. 


End file.
